Matt Mercer Solves Baldur’s Gate 3 Problems In A Very D&D Way

Gif: Larian Studios / Kotaku

Finding nonsensical solutions to a problem is a core part of the Dungeons & Dragons experience, and not many people know that better than actor and Critical Role DM Matt Mercer. With Baldur’s Gate 3 out this week, it seems only natural that a D&D superstar would make his way to Larian Studios’ RPG set in that universe and also come up with a ridiculous play like stacking a few dozen boxes on top of each other to get over a defensive wall and into a castle.

Mercer, who appeared on a stream playing the game alongside Larian founder Swen Vincke, accomplished this feat by stacking 45 boxes to make a staircase. Using the jump command, Mercer scaled the makeshift stairs until he was high enough to fire an Arrow of Transposition, which teleports the user to wherever the projectile lands. Honestly, the whole thing kind of broke my brain.

I’m around 25 hours into Baldur’s Gate 3, and I’m still wrapping my head around how much chaos it allows for. More often than not, when we think of RPGs and systemic chaos we think of open-world games where there are all these clockwork systems that we disrupt as the player and watch disorder unfold. But I think Baldur’s Gate 3 is more impressive in that it gives you so many tools to navigate the world and find creative solutions that can support something like making a giant staircase of boxes and then teleporting via arrow. It rules.

As more players get their hands on Baldur’s Gate 3, we’ll no doubt see more people pulling off impressive nonsense, but shoutout to Mercer for ringing in release day with this terrific display.

While we might not have outlined anything this wild, we can give you some early-game tips to help you get started in Baldur’s Gate 3.

Matt Mercer Is Vincent Valentine

Matt Mercer is seen holding a microphone seated next to Cody Christian (the voice of Cloud Strife) and John Eric Bentley (the voice of Barret Wallace) at a panel of voice actors from Final Fantasy VII Rebirth at New York Comic Con 2023.

Photo: Kotaku

Today at New York Comic Con, it was revealed that voice actor Matt Mercer, perhaps best known as the Dungeon Master of popular actual-play webseries Critical Role, will be starring as gunslinger Vincent Valentine in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, the second chapter in Square Enix’s ongoing remake of the classic ‘90s Japanese role playing game.

Previous trailers for Final Fantasy VII Rebirth have showed off a variety of different locales, as well as characters not featured in the first chapter, 2020’s Final Fantasy VII Remake, including Vincent Valentine. Much of the game remains shrouded in mystery, however, as the remake project isn’t just a faithful retelling of the original story, but sees its narrative branching off in some bold new directions. Today at NYCC, a panel featuring voice actors from the highly anticipated sequel revealed a bit more about what to expect.

While Matt Mercer did voice a few characters in the first entry of the remake project, they were mostly minor NPCs with names like “Wall Market Thug.” During the October 14 panel, Mercer revealed that he auditioned for Valentine in Rebirth, saying that he “put all of his energy” into the audition. Then, he didn’t hear back for nine months. And when he finally did get a callback, it only said that he’d once again play nameless NPCs.

In what he described as a prank played on him by the folks producing the game, Mercer said he was brought into the booth to record lines for a random NPC when the screen containing the script started glitching out before fading to black and presenting him with another character: that of Vincent Valentine. Quite a way to find out you’ve got the job.

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth releases on February 29, 2024 for PlayStation 5.

Pre-order Final Fantasy VII Rebirth: Amazon | Best Buy | GameStop

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